Poison
by Selene Moonstar
Summary: Some find inner peace through pain and suffering - love is no different, especially those that must suffer to see what's been right in front of them all along, like a poison in their body they don't want to get out. Rated M, and not recommended to all public audiences if you cannot handle any of the following: blood, gore, strong language, and ideologically sensitive material
1. Injection

She couldn't put her finger on it.

Tigress _knew_ that the moment her eyes opened, there was something wrong.

Perhaps it had something to do the natural balance of chi that was in the room before she went to sleep. Sure, she had just recently come to grips with that part of her training as a Kung-Fu master, but it wasn't as if she didn't feel this way before. According to her immediate memory, the only other time she felt this way was when she and the other Furious Five had been with the Dragon Warrior to go to Gongmen City to take on the warlord Shen.

In fact, just thinking about that one point in time made her uneasy. If she had not pushed down the thoughts that were going through her head, maybe she wouldn't be focused on the task at hand and more on the past.

That is, of course, she could figure out what the task was in the first place. It wasn't often that the master of the tiger style would be up over something as sentimental as a feeling.

Just a few minutes before, she had been up and about, feeling the chi of most of her friends and comrades, except, from what she could best explain to herself, there was a great amount of chi missing in the room.

Everyone had their own form of breathing, which Tigress was trying to pick up on, but no one snored. Exactly where the idea of snoring, or at least the rumor of it, came from was beyond the Furious Five and herself. Heck, even though Po was the most prone to be assumed to snoring, he never did. If they had, there might have been more than one problem during their little cruise to Gongmen City.

It was as strange to them as the situation at hand.

Now that the thoughts of breathing were passing her mind, she realized that she wasn't hearing the panda's normal sleeping breathing patterns. In fact, she would even go as far to dare say that she wasn't hearing his breathing at all.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't just walk into someone's room, but for the second time in her immediate memory (the first being when she was trying to talk some sense into the panda about Tai-Lung) she had made an exception and peeked into the room that belonged to the Dragon Warrior.

The only thing was that the Dragon Warrior wasn't there.

She cringed at the thought of a panda being able sneak by her without her at least noticing. Then again, after Po had broke in through the floorboards a few times, it was no surprise that they had tried to reinforce it so it was more panda-friendly.

So why wasn't she able to feel his chi, then?

Tigress knew that she would have been able to feel at least that, but it was almost as if his chi had been depleted to such a slow degree in progressed time that Tigress didn't notice until it was too late.

The when and whats started to play harder and harder in her mind, but as she stood there thinking about it, the other Five had arisen from their sleep, but Viper was the first to talk.

"Tigress?" Viper asked, her voice still heavy with sleep, "What are you doing up at this hour? It's not even time for the gong."

"Not to mention that we only went to bed just a very _very_ short time ago," Crane imputed, rather cranky on the account that his sleep was being deprived, and held no shame in not holding back his mood because of it.

"Po's not in his room," Tigress said flatly.

"You two didn't have a _fight_ , did you?" Monkey asked in concern, his emphasis on the matter almost as if 'fight' was a word that was forbidden to be ever said.

"Not any we haven't apologized for later," Tigress remarked.

Yes, the panda and the tiger did have their fits, but they _always_ apologized about the whole affair later, no matter who was wrong, _always_. It was something they had learned to do after the first few fights got really out of hand. It was incredible that they could even stand one another after some of the fights they had been through, even when they were stupid ones.

That was a relationship for you - especially one so dynamic as Po and Tigress.

"Was it something any of us might have said?" Mantis asked.

"I don't think so," Viper remarked as Tigress began walking out of the brackets, "Po's the kind of person that would say something if it was really offensive."

That was something they all knew - Po was kind of sensitive to certain things they were normally not accustom to being sensitive to. Then again, that's kind of what made their lives interesting after his already interesting introduction by (literally) falling from the sky. Now, here she was, worried sick as into why everything seemed off. Tigress had been trained to go with her gut when it came down to it, but she wasn't even sure what her gut was trying to tell her anymore.

Her silence put her friends on edge, but for a split second, as they were approaching the training hall, they didn't break the silence because it was being broken by something else...  
Well, more along the lines of some _one_ else...

And everything seemed to stop for a split second when a panda that was black, white, and scarlet red suddenly burst through the doors, breaking them as he flew through the sky and landed with a hard thud past the stairs, his friends rushing over to him as a clap of lightning went through the sky.

"Po!"

There was no movement from the panda as his friends approached him, and as a more distant clap of lightning rung in the valley, Tigress was on his right and Monkey was on his left as they lifted Po up a little to where he was sitting up and could see them clearly when his jaded eyes opened.

He looked horrible - there was just no other way to describe without going into detail, such as the gash on his belly, or the little droplets of blood leaving his mouth, telling them that he was bleeding on the _inside_ too.

"G-Guys?..."

Great, so that meant that he was incoherent too. What the hell was the panda doing?

"Po, what's going on?" Tigress demanded, her voice firm yet gentle at the same time - a special tone she had only used with the panda.

"Y-You need to get out of here!" he pleaded, "There's-"

He couldn't even finish a sentence without a blood-curling yell reaching his lips. If he was in this much pain, then who knows who might have been responsible for it all. Po couldn't even get his breath back as the yell lead to coughing, which lead to shaking, which only amplified the pain that was already there.

"Po, calm down," Tigress sad reassuringly, "Who did this?"

"Um... Tigress," Crane remarked, "I don't think we really need to hear it from him who did it..."

Looking at Crane for a minute, she turned her head with the others to the broken doors of the training hall, taking note of the shadowy figure who was there now, but had not been there before, at least to her memory. However, her memory did serve her well as she had thought about past situations like this that made her eyes lighten up.

She didn't need to say again who it was.

"An assassin," Tigress growled.

"You've _got_ to be _kidding_ me!" Mantis groaned, "It seems like that ever since we beat Shen, Po's got more enemies than he does friends."

"Regardless the number," Tigress said as she got up from his side, "We're still his friends, and there's only one befitting punishment fit for scum who hurt our friends."

The other Furious Five couldn't agree more, and all took their battle stance against the assassin covered in shadows that was trying to take Po out.

It didn't really matter who it was, the case was clear - Po needed their help.

The shadow didn't seem indifferent. Perhaps it was just the cloak, but the assassin, whoever it might have been, was now well aware that not only had they been caught, but the darkness they were wearing was also going to take on another color as blades came out of each sleeve: the scarlet color that was would be made from the blood that was running through its victim's veins. After all, they were about one-sixth way there already, since it already had the blood of the famous Dragon Warrior dried up in some places and still fresh with red in others.

Tigress could _smell_ the blood of her friend on its cloak, and she was pissed off for two reasons: one, that Po didn't say anything in the first place; and two, more importantly, she was oblivious of the assassin until _after_ it practically had its way with Po.

The anger was in her eyes, and the assassin saw it - it would be safe to assume that someone was going to die tonight, and no one really wanted to die. It was the inevitable fate of guardians against the killers. Still, no one was going to go down without a fight, and Viper was the first to reach the assassin as everyone charged at the opposing team. In a five against one, the snake was able to reach the enemy first, but was thrown off when it thew its blade at her, revealing a chain that was connected to itself and the sword.

As Viper dodged the sword, Mantis climbed up Viper's body, on the sword and along the chain as Tigress threw a punch at the shadowy figure, which was deflected by the other sword. Before the assassin could register that there was a green bug a little too close to the face, the failed attempt to attack the face was successfully done by Mantis. For someone so small, he proved his strength by kicking the assassin far from him, and Monkey made another push by waking him off of its feet and practically into the talons of Master Crane, whom was far beyond pissed for not only the lack of sleep, but from the fact it nearly killed their friend. Without hesitation, the avian master threw the assassin even higher than it flew, backing up from it with complete certainty that for a killer, he _should_ have a bloody death.

Even if it didn't die, that didn't matter to Crane - broken bones or dying from the fall - that fall couldn't be survived without some serious miracle.

Exactly who's side the gods were on, no one was sure, but as they backed up to let gravity do its work, they realized that while they _did_ hear the thum, they didn't hear the cracking of bones, which was the expected sound from being thrown that high.

This was a physical being they were fighting, right? After all, since assassins kept coming in late at night, if Po didn't pull something, they were usually able to throw them in the air and be done with it before the gong.

However, as the usual sound of defeat didn't reach their ears, they weren't sure what to make of it, but no assumptions were needed as the shadow began to coil into itself, the cloak wrapping itself up in something that they knew was a little too small to be the body of the assassin.

"But... how could anyone survive something like that?" Viper asked, "That would have _killed_ it!"

"Apparently, there's no such thing as an assassin that enjoys a good-night's rest!" Crane said, returning to a more battle stance.

Obviously not dead by this point, the Five kept their positions as the cloaked figure began to raise itself off of the ground. The fact they were tired was one thing, but the fact this thing, whatever or whoever it may be, didn't want to go down without a fight, and the fight became a little more ugly - not just from the cryptic nature of the enemy, but from the fact that it didn't want to give into the demands of the Furious Five. Both sides were pissed for their own reasons, but until there was blood on the ground, no one was going to rest.

In a funny sense, one would assume that everyone was going to rest tonight - one just wasn't going to wake up. The Furious Five could only hope that Po could hang on long enough until the assassin would receive its dues.

"Monkey," Tigress ordered, "Get Po out of here and alert the palace of what's going on - we'll take care of this."

As the swords were being drawn back into the hands of the assassin, it was silent indication that maybe it didn't want Po to go anywhere at all. Besides, as beat up as Po was, an assassin was never finished until they were sure their victim was dead.

When the master of the monkey style started to turn his attention to Po, the moving darkness had to give its whole attention to the four masters that charged at him, Tigress taking the lead with Crane by attacking it at the same time on both sides. To be expected, the swords caught their attacks, but that was the very thing that the masters were counting on the assassin to do, buying enough time for the snake master to leap at him at coil herself around the figure. What they _didn't_ count on was the cloak to tighten itself like one would wring a towel that had too much water, making itself much smaller than the coiling viper could do without first putting herself in knots. As the snake made her way to the ground, the shadow moved its cloak away from the attacking masters and brought itself up again on the stairs, gazing at the masters with its glowing yellow eyes before making its way back into the training hall.

Although he was the smallest, Mantis was the first to reach what was left of the doors and knock them open with one mighty kick. The other masters followed behind him, their caution increasing tenfold when they realized how dark the room was, and the ominous laugh that was echoing in the silent halls.

From what they were able to gather, the laugh sounded terribly feminine.

It didn't matter - she or he, _it_ wanted them to walk in. They knew it was a trap, but they had to catch up with their enemy, at least before anymore damage was done.

The slamming of the doors and a little light showing through the remains of it was the only hope the Furious Five had. Literally back to back with one another, there was little to aid them in the gasps and yells that came afterward. The more masters that weren't taken out prior to a gasp or yell of pain, the more the masters that were still there were put on edge.

Needless to day, that made Tigress the most on edge, for before she could register that everyone who could've had her back were no longer there, she realized she was alone in the darkness - no one but her in the pale moonlight, her eyes glowing with anticipation.

What made her heart stop was when the lights were lit to reveal her friends on the ground: Crane, Viper, and Mantis not moving as if dead. However, if Tigress had not bent down to them to check their pulse (which was only possible by the movement on their lips and rising of lungs because she couldn't feel anything in her paws), then she would have assumed that they were dead.

Another cackle echoed in the atmosphere, except Tigress was able to see the shadow this time. Getting up from her fallen friends, one look at the two swords gushing a green fluid told her one thing: that her friends (Po included) were likely poisoned. She was surprised that she didn't at least smell the poison prior to actually seeing it with her own eyes. Then again, given the experience that she had in the past with poisons, it didn't surprise her too much that she didn't smell it until now because there were poisons that couldn't be detected by smell. If her memory served her correctly about the goo that was gushing out of those blades, then it was likely she already knew what kind of poison it was.

However, even in battle stance, no one really considered that panda would come back into the scene, much less have the strength to throw himself to the shadowy figure right into the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom. In fact, the force given by the panda had such impact, that it didn't stay too long before it went into the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors.

All of this distraction from the training materials themselves bought Tigress to actually be surprised by the fact that not only Po was conscious, but (as usual) pulled another stupid move that sent him back to the ground again.

"Po!?"

Without a second thought, she was by his side.

"Po, you _idiot_!" she practically growled before turning to the monkey master she had entrusted the panda to, "I thought I told you to take him into the infirmary and go get help!"

"I _was_!" Monkey protested, "But he's as stubborn as you sometimes!"

Leave it to the panda to be stubborn when she took her eyes off of him. Then again, even during training, the one who had the most firm stance against him was her. Go figure that it should've been _her_ that should've went with him.

"T-The cloak..."

"What?"

Did he really just practically scare her to death to tell her _that_?

"The cloak..." Po choked out, stopping Tigress heart for a minute by throwing up something that looked like last night's dinner mixed with blood, a gasp too weak to be heard (but could be _felt_ since she was holding him by this point), "T-The assassin... the cloak... _witchcraft_!"

So _that's_ what Po was trying to get at... the poor bastard of an assassin was so worried about being dishonored by _not_ bringing back the Dragon Warrior's head to his master that he practically sold himself to the devil!

At least that's what happens to anyone who commits themselves to witchcraft.

Then again, in it's own light, it was clever - word must have gotten around about how a regular assassin, even with poisons, couldn't take out the Dragon Warrior in the dead of night.

When the panda practically put his own life on the line to give Tigress this vital information, the shadow had recovered from the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors and practically flew over the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom to meet its nemesis once again. Since Po was trying to give the information, and Tigress was so entranced in listening, the short time that Monkey was able to buy was short lived when the assassin was able to finally knock out another one of the masters.

It was down to the panda and the tiger master to take down this fiend, and all it wanted was the panda dead - if they had this much trouble already, the thoughts of honor only increased when it was imagined the Dragon Warrior's head on a platter. Heck, maybe on a gold platter to serve to his majesty, but not in the honor of the Dragon Warrior, but to prove to China who was the strongest warrior.

Glares of jade and scarlet reached the assassin, but as the one who owned the jade orbs tried to get up, the scarlet eyes growled in protest. Then again, being Po and Tigress, of course one would be stubborn for the other, and they had their own reasons for being worried - one, Tigress being worried sick for Po on the account of his injuries; and two, Po being concerned for Tigress because of his current events, worried that what had happened to him would happen to her.

"Stay down, Po," she said, "I got this."

"D-Don't..."

"Po," Tigress said in a more serious tone, "You're injured enough as it is - don't make me _keep_ you down."

"But this guy's gone to the devil," Po remarked, "I'm not going to let you take this guy alone."

"And how do you purpose to do anything, given the fact you can't even stand?" remarked the assassin, speaking for the first time that gave a clear indication more than ever that it _was_ a female, "By dawn, you will be dead."

Tigress, by that point, would've just lept at the assassin and tore at wherever her throat might have been. However, one grunt from the panda sent her attention whirling right back to him, Po leaning forward as another tiny stream of blood came out of his mouth. By now, there were five running down his wounded face, the fifth more fresh than the others, since at least two were brown from dry blood.

"T-Tigress, I-I've got to-"

"-You don't have to do anything," Tigress reassured him, laying him down on his back and trying to keep his wounds from taking him out, "Just... please... let me handle this..."

It was the please that seemed to force Po lose hold on reality enough to where he completely submitted himself to Tigress. Any light that was left in his eyes were gone, and Tigress could see that, and gathered that his wounds would take him if she didn't beat this witch and go get help.

All she could think about was hoping that Po would hold on - if there was anything that he was good at, it was doing just that, and she needed him to do so more than ever.

Getting up, she turned from Po to face the assassin, who had not attacked because she was that damned amused by the work she had done already, and that Tigress looked like a kitten caught in a storm more than the ferocious master that she had heard about. Even as the master of the tiger style started to form anger that could be compared with hell, the assassin couldn't help but feel a swell of joy that she was responsible for making Tigress feel so helpless, thanking her past self for giving her soul up to the devil when she did.

"I had no idea that the mighty Master Tigress even had a concept of fear," the assassin mocked, "But I think I hit a heart string there when I went after your little cuddle buddy."

"Anyone who doesn't accept that they are afraid are either already there or lying," Tigress said, returning to her battle stance, "If you were so desperate for crime, you should've stopped at just trespassing on the Jade Palace - you would've been lucky to just perform community service for that, but at most lose your feet. Taking on all of the Furious Five was an even greater mistake, but to poison my friends and cheat like this is a dishonorable form of combat, indeed...  
But what do you know of honor?"

"You're right, _Master Tigress_ ," the assassin said, saying her name in a mocking manner as if she really didn't believe she was a true master in the first place, "But tell me this, what do _you_ know of _love_?"

Tigress tightened up, but the assassin continued.

"Come now, you don't think I don't know? You already know I'm a 'witch' as you would like to call me, but I believe the more appropriate term is 'soothsayer'. Before I took all of you on, I used divination to find out the best way to attack you all, and I'll admit you were the hardest to find out about - with all of those barriers you keep yourself surrounded by, especially the barriers you keep between yourself and a certain someone behind you that's probably dead. To think that your weakness is so simple, and I can see you're practically shaking from the fact that the object, well, the _panda_ , of your affections was beat to a bloody pulp because of me, and you weren't there to stop it."

"Enough," Tigress snarled, the assassin smiling as her eyes were glowing with anger, "No, I wasn't here with him when I should have, but I'm here now, and I promise that you _won't_ hurt _my_ panda _again_!"

In the burst of verbal anger, Tigress went to the assassin like a flash of lightning, throwing her hardcore fists at her that some where blocked by the two blades that were still held by the assassin. Splatters of gush were flying everywhere, but its not like Tigress couldn't feel anything in her paws anyway - it was her temporary advantage in this combat. However, another advantage started to come through and the assassin didn't see it until it was too late. Sure, it was clever to have the poison already in the blades, so one could strike and just be done with it, but what _wasn't_ considered by the witch that used divination was the fact that it also made the blade (no matter how strong it was) hollow, depleting it of the full strength it could have had when it wasn't hollow. Much to the dismay of the assassin, she didn't see until Tigress gave her blades a punch and a hard kick to the stomach, sending her to one of the pillars that supported the building.

The fatal mistake was seen when the blades broke apart, revealing the green contents on the inside even more than before. The assassin glared, and Tigress smiled, giving an indication that it was her plan the whole time.

"Showoff," the assassin hissed.

"I'm going to give you one last warning," Tigress said, all emotion gone as she warned her plainly, "Get out of here _now_ , or I will not hesitate to kill you."

A flash of silver shot through the darkness and reached Tigress' side just a few seconds after she made that warning, sinking itself into her flesh as Tigress doubled back, the assassin on top of her with a paw reaching for the shot of silver, which was a dagger, oozing an all too familiar substance.

"You hesitated already when you showed me mercy," the assassin said, sinking the dagger deeper and deeper into the master's side, Tigress refusing to give her what she wanted before she continued, "Do you honestly think that I sold myself to the devil because I wanted to? No, it was because this is because I'm aware that if I don't kill you, I would already be dead, now don't deny me your head for my master!"

With that, she turned the dagger inside of Tigress' body, something like a yell and a growl radiating from her lips as she grabbed the cloak and used her feet from under the assassin to kick her into the air. On the account of the force, the cloak was torn off of the assassin, revealing a snow leopard that didn't look very familiar. As Tigress got up and backed away from the snow leopard that went head first into the ground, she guessed that because this particular snow leopard wasn't familiar at all, she probably a random stranger, so the Ladies of the Shade wouldn't be at fault.

For a second, she could see the snow leopard still breathing, but horribly immobilized from the impact. Po was right about the cloak having some form of witchcraft.

Breathing in deeply, she grabbed the dagger that had been put into her only so long ago and forced it out. Yes, she knew that she would be bleeding, but she had hoped that the blood would also take the poison that was inevitable in her body. Turning her pain into anger, Tigress growled as she stood above the wounded snow leopard, taking note of the pendant around her neck that was slowly starting to fade from whatever light she had not seen until now.

Without any hesitation, Tigress lifted the dagger above her head and sent it straight into the heart of the snow leopard, all care gone from her action as her scream went in one of her ears and out of the other. Since she didn't struggle without flinching from pain, Tigress guessed that her kick must've broken something, or perhaps enough to where she would receive the least resistance.

What a relief - she was tired of this fight.

Now that she thought about it, she was tired as she backed away from the snow leopard and left her to her death. She wasn't going to be next to her to see her handiwork - the witch didn't deserve the kind of comfort that one would get by seeing someone else before they died.

What happened next seemed to relieve her, almost to be too good to be true.

From what she was able to remember, the destroyed doors of the training hall were opened, various colors entering the area and spreading out, some voices a bit familiar, and others were not as her legs gave way and collapsed on the floor. Unable to put two thoughts together, she wouldn't have been surprised if the face of Master Shifu had occurred sometime later, him giving orders to everyone else that was there as he turned his attention back to Tigress, saying something about her being alright, and something that felt really cold on the side that was stabbed to help with the poison.

Under normal circumstances, she would have been strong enough to help, but she wasn't, and it wasn't like she didn't want to give into the weakness - she just had no strength to fight against it.

There were only a few things that she even remembered thinking as her eyes closed again.

 _Guys...  
Viper... Crane... Monkey... Mantis...  
Po...  
Po..._


	2. Open My Eyes

All of a sudden, her eyes opened.

Relaxing her nerves, Tigress attempted to recompose herself as she registered everything around her: the smell of medicine that reached her nose, a sigh that left her lips, and the dancing particles that could be seen under the cool of the moonlight.

If she didn't realize that she was in the infirmity, and the pain that was swelling up on the inside of her, primarily from her _left_ side, she would have sworn that everything that happened last night was just a nightmare.

She wouldn't wish anything on what had become of her friends, especially Po.

Assuming that she would get bickered at for moving, she decided to give herself a minute and breath in the atmosphere, accepting the fact that someone had come into the training hall and come to their aid after the assassin was killed by her paws. If she had not been washed up, perhaps the smell of her blood would have made Tigress feel more cold than what she was already feeling. Killing wasn't new to her, but the fact the assassin came prepared, and sold her soul to the devil in the process, left her uneasy.

Tigress only wished that everyone was in a better condition than she was.

It was that feeling that compelled her to get up anyway - not that it was anything but painful.

Holding a hiss of pain in, she was welcomed by light a bit brighter than what was in her room, some relief washing over her as she saw most of the Five. From what she was able to gather, Viper, Monkey, and Mantis were there, and all turned to Tigress with equal amount of relief as they did.

"Tigress!" Viper exclaimed, "Are you alright?"

"A few bruises and a stab wound," Tigress admitted honestly, "But I'll be alright... Where's Crane?"

"The poor guy was so cranky after the fight," Mantis exclaimed, "You probably wouldn't want to mess with him right now."

Tigress allowed herself to smile - he was okay, and that's what mattered, but the smile didn't last long as she moved onto the next question.

"...And... Po?"

The genuine relief that were on the faces of the other five were gone now, Tigress giving them a look of fear and concern, hoping someone would speak up. It was Monkey who finally took the weight off her shoulders by telling her what was going on.

"None of us have seen Po since we were brought to the infirmary," Monkey began, "All we know is that the Soothsayer is here but neither she or Master Shifu have left the room Po was in."

Did he fall to his injuries? No, that couldn't be so - if it had happened already, word would have reached them that he was dead. Then again, as shocked as Tigress was right now, something didn't quite settle right with the fact that the Soothsayer was here. Sure, she had come for a visit, but to stay here and to be in the same room Po was as if she were a nurse was unusual it itself.

It was almost as if his injuries had more than what she thought, and it was beyond comprehension that it was almost sensible to bring in a soothsayer. Then again, her immediate memory recalled the fact that she had just killed a witch, so it wouldn't hurt to have him checked over. She also had to fight off other things, such as the guilt that was coming to her mind for not being there for him sooner, and the fact that the witch was so in keen with her sorcery that she was able to see past everything and plainly acknowledge that she had fallen in love with him. Magic was funny like that, but she had not told anyone that Po was like poison in her body on the account of her love for him.

Odd enough, it wasn't as if she wanted the poison to leave her body - while she couldn't explain it, she had come to like the idea of loving Po, despite the obvious circumstances that she never told him.

She couldn't tell him - not when they were so close as friends.

True, she remembered hearing about two best friends eventually falling in love, but Tigress had come to terms with herself a long time ago about what she was feeling. There was something that she also remembered hearing, along the lines of if you love something, let it go, and if it comes back, it was meant to be. Besides, Tigress concluded that she really didn't need to tell him that she was in love with him to be so. From what she had experienced until now, love wasn't just a feeling - it was a decision, and that decision involved putting the other first instead of yourself. By this, Tigress had come to terms with never telling him because Po didn't seem that genuinely interested in love. Sure, she stuck by him during the few cases that he was, but that's what happens when someone loves another.

After all, even before she loved him, she had already put him before her, so it was as if she had loved him almost from the beginning.

However, today was a little different as she looked at the door the others were glancing to when she brought up Po. For the first time in a while, perhaps ever, she picked up on something that seemed foreign and selfish, and those feelings were accompanied by the thoughts of the possibility that Po might be dead. After all, at the thought of his own heart not beating almost made her own do the same.

She could only approach the door - she was almost too scared to see what might be going on the other side.

Not that she didn't want to see him, because she really did.

Then again, even if she had the strength to, her friends wouldn't allow it.

"Tigress," Viper said gently, "We can't go in there right now."

"I know," Tigress answered, her voice firm, but Viper also knew that it was broken at the same time, "I just..."

"What happened wasn't your fault."

"I know, Viper... but it still happened..."

"Don't worry, Po is as about as stubborn as you are sometimes - I don't think whatever is going on is going to take him out. He is the Dragon Warrior, after all..."

"...and our friend."

She wanted to say more, but she left it at that.

At the sound of the door, everyone backed up as Master Shifu and the Soothsayer emerged from the room, a grim look on Shifu's face that would have been normal in the past, but he had changed so much since then. Looking up, he realized that Tigress was up and about, giving her a sad smile, relieved that his child was at least alright.

"Tigress," he said, watching her as she got to one knee to be at a better eye-level with him, "How are you?"

"My side still hurts, master," she said, "But I promise to take it easy."

"Good," Master Shifu said, giving his daughter a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he walked past the rest of the Five that were still awake in the evening, his face indicating that he wasn't going to be seen for a while since his coping mechanism for this sort of thing was meditation.

Even with inner peace, that didn't mean things didn't hurt.

Turning to the Soothsayer, Tigress was about to put the question on the elderly goat, but one hoof stopped her.

"I wish I could say that Po was fine," the Soothsayer said, "and that I wish that I was here for a casually visit, like originally intended. However, Po's condition bad enough, due to his physical injuries of broken ribs and one of them piercing his lung..."

That more than explained why he coughed up blood.

"...as for the poison, do not worry - I was able to remove that from his body before it could do anymore damage, as I was able to do with all of you..."

So it _did_ do _some_ damage, and exactly where wasn't Tigress' prime concern. After all, from the expression the Soothsayer was giving, she thought that the poison was the root of the problem, so why wasn't her expression changing, as if she had more to say?

"...but that witch did one thing with him that she didn't do with all of you..."

In the other hoof, they caught the sight of the pendant that was once around the snow leopard's neck, only Tigress recognizing that it was so.

"...Po won't make it to tomorrow..."

A stillness finally came into the room, everyone still with shock, and only Mantis having the guts to say anything first.

"How?" he asked, "Why were you in there for so long if he's going to die?"

"Po has a spell on him," the Soothsayer said, "Unless Po can fight the curse and break the spell on himself before daybreak, the assassin would get what she came for..."

"No."

The attention returned to Tigress, everyone a little surprised in their own way with the bitterness that came through. What threw everyone else off even more was the tears that were forming in her eyes, but it was hard to look at them in detail as the female tiger went to the door and went in to the room where the panda lay. The Soothsayer wanted to go after the distraught female tiger, but Monkey and Viper stopped her from doing so.

"I'm sorry, miss," Monkey said in a respectful tone, "But I wouldn't want to be in there with the kind of look Tigress just had."

"Monkey has a point," Viper said, looking back at the door, "Tigress is being... stubborn right now..."

No further explanation was needed - the old goat understood.

Without a second thought, she went with the rest of the Furious Five away from the door, hoping to give Tigress some level of privacy as she gazed at the body that was on the other side of the room.

For a minute, she was too scared to believe what was before her, but she was here now - gazing at the panda who's eyes were closed and his body littered with bandages. Now that she was aware that Po was under a spell that was practically killing him, she didn't know what to do. It frustrated her beyond belief that she was there and couldn't do anything, like when Po had been shot by Shen the first time.

Her side was in deep pain, but her heart was even more so at the sight of black marks on his belly, likely from the curse that the Soothsayer had spoken of.

Normally, Po would be able to pull through something like this - he had been able to before. Then again, they never had to deal with curses before.

The closer she got to him, the more memories of failure began to flash through her mind, yet he was still able to come back to her, like two fighting lovers coming back to reconcile. Why couldn't he do the same thing as before, like the same old stubborn panda that she had come to fall in love with? Because of a curse? Was he even winning? One thing rang true - she was worried sick for the panda.

As she went over to him, she put a shaking paw on his cheek, wishing for a split second that she could feel what she was holding. Her eyes were glowing in the night, but they were illuminating with sadness as the first tear left her eyes and landed right into the fur of the one she loved. Shutting her eyes tightly, it had become a second instinct to fight back her tears, but this time was different - she was actually fighting with herself to be okay to cry, since in situations like these, Po had been persistent about the matter about how it was okay to cry over something that meant a lot to you.

She realized then and there that she would cry an entire ocean if it meant breaking this curse. She even remembered that she would do anything for him if it meant that she got to see another day with him in it - him smiling, laughing, and all the other goofy stuff she had learn to love about him.

She also realized that, if it would help, she would even tell the panda how she really felt about him if it meant that he would be okay.

Breathing in deeply, she used her other paw that was not on his cheek to grab his paw and interlocked it with her own. Exactly why she was still doing this, even though she couldn't feel anything, she wasn't sure - but it was reassuring. Gazing down at him, still being careful about her wounded side, she looked at him before she found it in her heart to finally speak.

She wasn't even sure if she could put into words what Po did to her. A long time ago, she made the decision to support him because she knew he had potential as a Kung-Fu master. After she got to know him, and after the effort they both put into their relationship as friends, it had come down to the point where she had moments where Po was all she could think about.

If she could explain it in any way, she would probably say that Po was like a poison in her body she didn't want to get rid of, even if it killed her...

"Po..."

He didn't respond - she didn't expect him to, at least not yet.

"I know... you're still in there..."

She tightened her grip, but not so hard as to cut off circulation.

"I'm about to tell you something really important... and I didn't tell you before because of where we stand as friends, and that you might be okay with just _that_... being _friends_ , I mean... but if it helps you break this curse, I'll say it again a million times over...  
If it means helping you stay the stubborn panda I've come to respect and come back, then I'll say it even more..."

Tigress was a little closer to him than before, but she didn't care.

"Everyone needs you Po...  
all of China does...  
Master Shifu and the rest of us need you...  
Mr. Ping needs you more because you're his _son_..."

The grip was a little tighter as the back of his paw was against her heart that was beating so hard.

"... and this is probably the most _selfish_ thing I've ever said... but... but believe me when I say that _I_ need you the most..."

And the needed words finally left her lips before she placed hers on his in the gentle, selfish kiss that she hoped would be the very thing that Po needed.

Even if it wasn't, it was the best way she could think of to tell him goodbye as the first rays of dawn began to touch the earth with its reassuring warmth.

"I love you, Po..."


	3. Open His Eyes

And the jade met scarlet.

Tigress wasn't even sure how long the kiss was, but as her lips parted from his and she opened her eyes to sink in what she had just done, she realized that two pairs of green orbs were returning the gaze.

It took a minute for her to come to grips with herself after the fact everything seemed to fade from the kiss, but when she found her voice, it seemed a little more questionable about reality.

"...P-Po?"

"Bummer," Po replied weakly, "I had my first kiss taken when I was out."

Give it to Po to try to be cocky, or in this case try to pull some smart remark to try to cheer her up. Tigress didn't need any - she was already too darn happy to see that he was awake, much less audible. Heck, before the panda could question the female tiger about anything, his lips were silenced by the pair of lips that met his own again.

Okay, so a few things were definitely clear: he was kissed, and he was being kissed again by not just anyone, but by his best friend.

He didn't mind being kissed, especially by Tigress, but he was out of touch with himself during the first kiss, so because Tigress wanted it (or she wouldn't have given him that kiss in the first place), he decided to have more manners this time and focus on just that. If she had not kissed him first, perhaps he wouldn't have been so bold as to give her what she wanted.

Kiss now, questions later.

It actually made Po incredibly happy to be kissed by her, with the fluttering in his chest and the countless butterflies that were probably flying around in his already large tummy.

Alas, being mortal, one couldn't kiss forever, and only parted lips to breath. By now, Tigress's paws were on his cheeks, panting a little as her entire focus was on him. Po's entire focus was on her as well, and he was in a light state of discombobulation when he noticed the tears forming on the edge of her eyes.

"Tigress?..."

He was really gentle about it, but he probably shouldn't have been surprised when Tigress flinched under his touch to wipe away the tears.

"I... If you didn't want to kiss, then-"

She shut him up this time with her paw: one of her fingers on his lips.

"I-It's not that," Tigress said, regaining her composure, "I'm... just really glad you're awake..."

Looking down, he took a mental note that one of his paws was being held by the tiger master. More importantly, he could feel her heartbeat, and that it was a lot faster than usual. Because of this, Po could only conclude that she was feeling just as nervous as he was just a few minutes ago. As he composed himself, he decided to try to sit up. Take it from his best friend to stop him.

"Don't," she ordered, "You still have a few broken ribs from last night."

"And what about you?" Po asked, remembering that when he felt her heartbeat, he also considered that there were likely bandages under her red vest.

"I had to put my mind at ease concerning you before I could worry about myself," Tigress said, unable to look at the panda she just kissed (not out of disgrace, but embarrassment), "I'm... glad you're okay."

He wished that he had seen it until now, but certain thoughts from last night and today were starting to piece themselves together, like from what little he could remember after he had his big behind handed to him my that assassin. Before his friends came to the scene, he remembered the assassin chanting some mambo-jumbo after being physically wounded enough to where he couldn't get up. He even remembered when the assassin touched his belly for some reason, which wasn't comfortable at all. What she said, however, did come back to his mind.

 _"They say that only true love can break certain spells...  
not like you know what that is anyway...  
You may be the Dragon Warrior, but you're still just a big, fat panda."_

Po wasn't even sure if the next memory was true, but the thought dawned on him anyway.

 _"No, I wasn't here with him when I should have, but I'm here now, and I promise that you_ won't _hurt_ my _panda_ again _!"_

It might have been just his imagination, but here's what made it click: Tigress still broke that curse, since he remembered that the witch had put a mark on his belly and it was long gone now. If what his foggy memory actually remembered was true, then even though it was in a mocking manner, true love was the key to saving him from death, and that Tigress had that bottling up inside of her for however long it might have been. If Tigress felt this way, why didn't she say anything? Was the witch right about just being a big, fat panda? That didn't seem right at all, especially when it came to Tigress. He guessed that it might have been a silent, mutual agreement to stay friends.

So why did she kiss him?

He distinctly remembered Tigress and the others coming _after_ she said that fact, so there was no way she could have known, could she?

Could it be that Tigress had carried a genuine, romantic love for him, and his eyes weren't opened to the matter until now?

Gulping back any fear, he verbalized his thoughts.

"Tigress..."

He took both of her paws into his own before he spoke up even more, earning her visual attention as well.

"...Do you like me?"

It took him a minute to realize that sounded wrong, and he sat up this time despite Tigress' objections, but once both paws were back in his own again, his look of weakness became one of determination, something reserved for only various situations.

"I'm sorry... that didn't come out right...  
Tigress, do you _love_ me?"

Only a perfect individual could have orchestrated this, but neither Po and Tigress originally planned for feelings to be conveyed in such a manner, especially now. However, Po understood the severity of the word 'love' and used it in the context he believed that Tigress was trying to reach to him, the kiss earlier proof of that.

He had to know - not just for his sake, for confirmation of all the doubts in his mind, but for her, to destroy all the doubts in her heart.

Tigress was surprised that Po was being serious, as if all of this were one of her stupid dreams she had, but she knew that all of this was real - she just needed a minute to sink in that it was. She couldn't look away from him not because she didn't want to, but because she was trying to find any doubt or fear in him before she could tell him what was really going on in her heart. After all, just a few hours ago, the witch, by divination, was able to see that Tigress was in love with him, but only until now did it click in her mind that maybe the witch was trying to degrade her from believing that it was. If she had been successful, she wouldn't have been able to wake up Po in the manner that she did.

Her love for him was strong, but it was silent, and now the one who's feelings these were for wanted to to be told the truth, and there was no doubt in his eyes after a short time of searching. Because of that, she sighed, Po, in those rare situations, actually winning against her.

"...Yes, Po... I do..."

A gentleness fell over Po, and it comforted Tigress, but there was a hint of sadness in them too, which either meant that Po didn't feel the same way or he had a lot more questions coming.

"Why couldn't you tell me before?"

"Were you discontent with our present relationship as friends?"

"Of course not, Tigress... being friends with you is one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me. What I don't understand is that if you had feelings for me, why didn't you say anything before?"

"I had come to the conclusion to put you before myself. I wasn't sure if I was reading you wrong or at all, but you seemed... content with our relationship."

"Well, in one degree, I was, but if you wanted more than that, you could've said something."

"Now that you mention it, I'm starting to wonder why you didn't say anything either."

"Huh?"

"The kiss... and your curse, I mean... it wouldn't have worked if you didn't feel the same way I did."

A thoughtful look came across Po's face, and Tigress lightly smiled at the thought, a realization coming over them that maybe there was just no point having the conversation because they were now aware of how the other was feeling. As they realized this Po returned her smile.

"I guess it's kinda... unexpected, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that... just... interesting circumstances."

"Yeah, sorry for making you wait, Tigress - I guess we're both a little stubborn for our own good sometimes."

"Sometimes... sometimes..."

It had been a while since Tigress ever felt this way, but a sense of relief came over her, as if not telling the panda she was in love with that she loved him had almost become a burden. As the panda and the tiger touched foreheads, they allowed the ordeals of the past leave them like leaves in a stream.

With the warmth his love and the sunlight coming into the room, she remembered how she was going to have to tell everyone later that Po was alright. Since the mark was gone, it was obvious that the curse went with it, along with other things that were best not mentioned again since they knew what the other was feeling.

Po realized right then and there that the assassin was right - he was a big fat, panda, but he was more than that - he was _the_ big fat panda, and was now _her_ big fat panda.

That was something he could live with.


End file.
